find out how you can help. visit us at uso.org. the uso. until every one comes home. terror alert. americans are warned to be warned. sit down, show down. republican presidential candidates go after herman cain as mitt romney wins a key endorsement. the road to recovery. months after a brutal beating in l.a., a san francisco giants fan finally leaves the hospital. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, october 12th, 2011.

good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. the state department i should a worldwide travel alert overnight warning americans of potential terror attacks sponsored by iran, this follows a spoiled terror plot. an alleged murder for hire plan targeting the saudi baeambassad to the united states on soil. one is arrested and one is on the run. susan mcginnis is in washington with details on this. good morning, susan. what is the latest. >> reporter: this has stunned washington. just simply the idea that iran would solicit the murder for high from a mexican drug cartel to kill the saudi ambassador and has all levels of the u.s. government reacting and the talk now here is what -- federal officials are warning americans at home and abroad to be on the lookout for possible tryst attacks. the state department issued the

alert late last night as justice revealed they had spoiled an alleged plot for the assassination to the united states. they say manssor arbabsiar and another man planned to use explosives to kill abel al jubeir at a restaurant in washington, d.c. he hired a hitman he thought worked for a mexican drug cartel but was a d.e.a. agent. >> these individuals had no regard for their intended victim, no regard for innocent citizens who might have been hurt or killed in this attempted assassination. >> reporter: fbi arrested arbabsiar two weeks ago and he appeared in court on tuesday. the other man is still at large in iran. president obama calls the plot a

flagrant violation of u.s. and international law, but iran denies the accusations calling them false and baseless. >> the united states is committed to holding iran accountable for its actions. >> reporter: treasury officials have already imposed new sanctions against tehran and the state department is hoping other nations will join the u.s. in pressuring a country it sees as a growing threat. now, there is some debate whether this coninstitutes an act of war since tassassination wasn't carried out. >> a lot of people want to know this. how did officials eventually get their hands on arbabsiar? >> it was a sting operation. he got tricked going back to mexico to meet the asasassinass. but when he turned out once he

got there the mexican authorities took him into custody and shipped him back to new york and that is where the fbi was waiting. >> susan mcginnis in washington, thank you for that report. members of congress are speaking out the alleged assassination plot. it would constitute an act of war against the u.s. as well as saudi arabia and israel. at least 14 people were killed and more than 60 wounded when three car bombs exploded in iraq this morning. the bombers were targeting police. israeli soldier who has been held captive by hamas for five years is expected to be free within days. the deal to free gilad shalit was approved by the israeli cabinet overnight. he will be exchanged for more than a thousand palestinian prisoners. the news set off celebrations in the west bank and gaza. shalit, a tank gunner, was captured in 2006 and he was 19

years old at the time. at last night's republican presidential debate in new hampshire herman cain was on the hot seat. he has been rising in the polls and won an early test vote in florida but last night, his fell ko candidates took aim at cain's 999 tax plan. >> i thought it was a pizza when i first heard about it. >> 999 will pass and it's not the price for pizza because it has been well studied and well developed. it starts with, unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code. >> meanwhile, front-runner mitt romney took a bold steps, gen defending parts of the 2008 bailout. >> reporter: all eyes on mitt rom me who outpolls develop presidential hopefuls. in a debate on tuesday night, romney rivals got a chance to

disrupt his momentum. >> can you name all 59 points in your 160-page plan. ? >> the whole discussion around this campaign is job creation. how can you win that debate, given your background? >> the american people, in the kind of financial crisis they are in, they need someone who knows how to create jobs and i do. >> reporter: it was focused on the economy. the candidates repeated now familiar remedies and criticisms of the obama administration. >> we've got to get our spending house in order. >> reporter: some voters like what they heard. who helped themselves most so far? >> well, i think probably romney probably did, in my opinion, because he was taking questions from almost everybody and he seemed to handle them fairly well. >> reporter: stakes were high for texas governor rick perry who has plunged in the polls after weak debate performances. >> mitt has six years to work on a plan. i've been in this about eight weeks. >> reporter: randall pinkston,

hanover, new jersey. he brings that great private sector experience and he brings the experience as governor of massachusetts, knowing how government works. not a legislator trying to figure out how to use executive power but will make our american lives better and and that is why i'm endorsing mitt romney for president of the united states. speaking of president obama, he says he is not done fighting for the elements of his jobs bill. but it could be an uphill battle. as expected, the president's $447 billion jobs plan died in a senate vote last night. all 46 republican senators raen two democrats voted against it. the white house hopes to push forward with individual proposals in the bill on a piecemeal basis. there is a huge controversy

this morning in topeka, kansas. the vote came after a county prosecutor decided to stop pursuing diagram violence cases because of deep budget cuts. topeka wants the -- >> i think an immediate resolution is necessary. this has got to be addressed. this has gone over a month now. people are being denied their basic human rights to safety and protection under our laws. >> city and county officials say they are hoping to negotiate a deal to end the budget dispute. here in new york, the "occupy wall street" protesters moved uptown yesterday. demonstrators made their way up fifth avenue. they marched past owns end by rupert murdoch and the so-called 1% of wealthy americans. just ahead on the "morning news," another hack attack on electronics giant sony. plus this is not a good way

to die. web video shows the stupidity of riding outside a new york subway train. you're watching the "cbs morning new news". ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. plus veggie nutrition. it's time to get real about what happens in the bathroom. and start talking about what you really want from your toilet paper. it's time to talk about clean. feeling clean is so important. i use quilted northern. quilted northern soft & strong. stronger than the leading rippled brand. for a confident clean.

oooohhhh yeeaaahhh!! can we show you something? wouldn't it be great to feel like this all the time? (yeaaaahhh!!) i guess so. well, with the chase freedom card, you get 5% cash back on up to $1500 worth of purchases. and new categories every 3 months. and 1% on everything else. so that "man, this must be my lucky day feeling" can go on and ooooonnnnn! no, you look good, you look good. get your cash back. chase freedom.

here in new york city, check this out. transit officials are calling a subway surfer stunt stupid and dangerous. the online video from early september shows a young man riding on the outside of a train, clinging to the doors as it races through the subway tunnels. police are trying to track him down. hurricane jova made landfall this morning on mexico's southwest pacific coast. fringes of the storm are already pounding coastal towns late tuesday south of port rear take. it arrived at a category 2 storm with winds 100 miles per hour and will weaken rapidly as it moves inland. on the cbs "moneywatch," a

mixed day of stocks in asia after a quiet trading on wall street. >> reporter: asian markets were mixed after slovakia blocked a plan. today, wall street gets a new round of corporate earnings. on tuesday, stocks finished mixed. the dow slipped 17 points while the nasdaq gained 17. after the closing bell, alcoa missed wall street expectations. another apparent security breach for sony. it says it has locked almost a hundred thousand accounts. sony stays no credit card information was compromised. earlier this year, a massive data breach took more than 100 million sony customer accounts at risk. the machines are taking over. for the first time, cell phones

and other mobile devices in the u.s. outnumber actual people. according to an industry group, there are more than 327.5 million active phones, tablets, and laptops on cellular networks, up 9% from january compared to 307 million actual americans. the best hotel in america has been named. get this, betty, a no tipping policy. i think i could use a weekend there! >> yeah. count me in. >> me too. >> that looks like fun. thank you, ashley, joining us live in new york. in health news, new evidence that high dozes of vitamin e may boost a man's chance of prostate cancer. were 17% more likely to get prostate cancer than those given dummy bills. vitamin e is naturally found in

foods like nuts, seeds, and vegetable oil. brian stow has left the recovery after recovering from a brutal beating outside dodgers stadium. with his family by his side, stow was transferred to an undisclosed rehabilitation center. he still can't walk or stand up, but he can move his body and sit up on his own. >> when brian came here, he was in a comatose state. when left us today, he was able to begin to speak, interact with his family and he is now beginning to eat as well and he is making dramatic progress. >> two men have been charged with the beating in l.a. they pleaded not guilty. still to come, your wednesday morning weather. and in sports, the tigers claw their way back into the american league playoffs. you want to make a healthy choice for your hair and a healthy choice for the planet? [ female announcer ] try pantene nature fusion shampoo.

its pro-v formula captures the potential of cassia to make weak, brittle hair up to 10x stronger. and now it comes in pantene's new bottle. made from up to 59% plant-based material. ♪ healthier hair... healthier planet. one small step at a time. [ female announcer ] nature fusion from pantene. hair so healthy it shines. ♪ ♪ vegetables picked at their peak ♪ ♪ so fresh my knees grow weak ♪ ♪ inspired by fine chefs in rome ♪ ♪ gourmet soups you make at home ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new bertolli frozen meal soup for two. like chicken minestrone with crisp vegetables, white meat chicken, al dente pasta. [ chef ] ♪ fresh tasting restaurant style ♪ [ both ] ♪ bertolli soup's in the freezer aisle ♪ [ male announcer ] new bertolli meal soup.

but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromise on taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance. in some cities around the country. time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows storms stretching from minnesota to texas. showers are moving north. through the mid-atlantic. later today, highs in southern california will reach into the 90s.

showers and thunderstorms are crossing the midwest. they could be severe in missouri. and new england will see some rain by the end of the day. in sports, the national league championship series resumes tonight in st. louis. the cardinals host the brewers in game three but the series is tied at one game apiece. in the alcs last night, tigers battled back against texas. the tigers beat the rangers 5-2. texas leads the series two games to one with game four this afternoon in detroit. in other baseball news, after nine seasons as boston's general manager, theo epstein is widely expected to move to the chicago cubs. he led the red sox to two world series wins after an 86-year drought but the team has been disappointing lately. the cubs would present epstein with an even bigger challenge. they have not won a world series in more than a century. and the nfl has awarded the

2015 to phoenix, home of the arizona cardinals. it will be the third super bowl to be played in the phoenix area. players and fans may be happy to go to the desert after the 2014 super bowl which will be played outdoors in the winter at the new jersey meadowlands. i'm cold just thinking about that. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and a big blow for dr. conrad murray at the michael jackson manslaughter trial. >> announcer: sports sponsored by just for men hair color. live forward. [drum]

[male announcer] he was there when his country needed him and we'll be there when he needs his country. join us and send your message of support to our wounded warriors at uso.org. the uso. until every one comes home. on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. showers are moving into the northeast with heavy rain likely later in the day. portions of the southeast are starting to dry out. and severe storms will range from minnesota all the way to texas.

here is another look at this morning's top stories. the state department has issued a worldwide travel alert after a plot to asass nas the saudi ambassador to the united states was foiled. the plot it tied to iran's government. at last night's presidential debate in new hampshire, mitt romney defended parts of the wall street bailout and herman cain's 999 tax plan came under attack. at the conrad murray trial in los angeles, a witness disputed the defense claim that michael jackson gave himself a fatal injection of a powerful anesthetic. kendis gibson has that story. >> reporter: jurors heard dr. conrad murray describe how michael jackson's children learned their father was dead. >> after they cried and cried and cried, the words of unhappiness and confusion couldn't live without her dad

and she didn't want to be an orphan. >> reporter: dr. murray told detectives he believes jackson was getting powerful drugs from a beverly hills dermatologist. >> when he came back, he was basically wasted and required at least 4 hours for recovery. >> reporter: murray's defense team says jackson himself administered the fatal dose. a medical examiner testified there is no evidence supporting that theory. >> the circumstances do not support self-administration of propofol. >> reporter: the coroner says a more likely scenario is dr. murray misjudged how many propofol he gave jackson. kendis gibson, cbs news, los angeles. in other news, first lady michelle obama has a new title -- jumper in chief. >> 3-2-1. go! >> mrs. obama is lending a hand in a nationwide effort to break

the guinness world record for the most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. she led hundreds of kids yesterday at the white house as you see there. it's part of the mifirst lady's campaign to fight childhood obesity. i'm betty nguyen. and this is the "cbs morning news." till in his way. so the doctor kept eric on his current medicine and added nonstimulant intuniv to his treatment plan. [ male announcer ] for some children like eric, adding once-daily nonstimulant intuniv to their stimulant has been shown to provide additional adhd symptom improvement. don't take if allergic to intuniv, its ingredients, or taking other medicines with guanfacine, like tenex. intuniv may cause serious side effects, such as low blood pressure, low heart rate, fainting, and sleepiness. intuniv may affect the ability to drive or use machinery. other side effects include nausea, tiredness, trouble sleeping, stomach pain, and dizziness. tell the doctor

about your child's medicines and medical conditions, including heart, liver, or kidney problems. [ woman ] adding intuniv helped eric. [ male announcer ] ask the doctor about once-daily nonstimulant intuniv.

good morning and welcome to 9news now. today is wednesday, october 12th. i'm andrea roane. >> i'm surae chinn. mike hydeck has the day off today. thank you so much for joining us. monika samtani has traffic.

hopefully the rain is not causing too much. >> just one problem. stand by. >> it is early. >> it is early. i say that jokingly but the rain we've had has been on the light side. as pretty as it is with the leaves and the colors, a lot of them are falling off the trees so we have wet leaves adding to slickness out there. let's talk about what we're expecting. gotta get the computer in the right spot. that will make it better for everybody. it is early. audio folks, there is a little buzz in my ear. we're all hearing it. 65 degrees with cloudy skies. 64 here at 9:00. like a little tone, lorie. there you go. 65 degrees with a chance of thunderstorms going on there as well. a couple of spots this afternoon. it won't be raining constantly. we'll see the showers and storms. you can see the system coming in. upper level system coming across areas in kentucky and west virginia. look at the showers and storms

down through columbia, south carolina. all of this has to come through us. today, we do expect quite a few showers around and maybe some thunder at times. temps running in the 60s right now. 57 in frederick. some of the showers into charles county are on the hefty side into virginia here, prince william down toward fredericksburg moving toward d.c. over the next hour or so. and with the rains around, temperatures won't be moving very much. in fact, pretty steady. mid, maybe upper 60s in a few spots. monika samtani, over to you. >> thank you, so much. as howard said, give yourself possibly a little extra time this morning with the rain coming down and leaves on the ground as well. could be a little slippery. here's what it looks like at the bay bridge. i use this shot. i know it is a little out of focus. from about 3:20 this morning, the westbound side of the bay bridge has been blocked with three vehicles and a tractor trailer involved in an accident. i've been on the phone trying to figure out what's going on there. you cannot get over from kent

narrows into annapolis and delays begin at route 8. i'll keep you posted on that situation. let's go to our next camera. here's what it looks like at colesville road. no problems on the inner loop. there had been construction coming around from connecticut avenue. be aware of that. they're probably picking it up as we speak. route 95 at route 198, you're fine. we'll end with a live picture in virginia. 66 inside the beltway at the leesburg pike. looking good on 395 and 95 as well. i'll have more at 4:39. andrea and surae? >> thank you, monica. an iranian born citizen remains in jail accused of planning to assassinate the saudi arabian ambassador. >> he was planning to kill him at a d.c. restaurant. the justice department says iranian government agents plotted the attack but iran is denying the allegations.

>> reporter: federal officials are warning americans at home and abroad to be on the lookout for possible terrorist attacks. the state department issued the alert late last night after justice officials revealed they had foiled an alleged iranian plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. >> this was approved by elements of the iranian government. >> reporter: authorities say an iranian-born u.s. citizen and another man planned to use explosives to kill jabbar in d.c. he hired a hit man he thought worked for a mexican drug cartel but was actually a d.e.a. informant. when asked about possible innocent casualties, he said no big deal. >> they had no regard for their intended victim. no regard for innocent citizens who might have been hurt or killed in this attempted assassination. >> fbi agents